A Lost Prince
by Eresilum
Summary: It’s been a month since Zira’s death & the outlanders joined the pridelanders. Kiara has a new cub on the way, when a mysterious lion is found by the river, could he be a lost prince?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It's been a month since Zira's death & the outlanders joined the pridelanders. Kiara had a new cub on the way, all was well, for most it was anyway. There was one lioness who didn't approve of Simba's ways of leadership, her name was Weusi. She was a pridelander who had joined up shortly after Kiara had been born. She was brown in colour & had maroon eyes. She also had a deep scar down her left front leg where she had been attacked by a pack of hyenas back when she had no home, she had never seen her mother, her father Adui had raised her but was killed by his old pride, he had betrayed them & almost caused the death of their leader. Weusi knew that he had fallen in love with her mother who was from another pride, but she always wondered if this was the real reason behind his death. After her fathers death she felt that she had to leave that pride. She had searched for her mother for months but never found her, she sometimes wondered if her old pride had killed her too. Weusi didn't have a home for the next year, she kept searching for a new pride to join but had no luck until one day, she had seen lots of animals moving towards a odd shaped rock, she had followed them to find out what this was all about. When she reached this odd rock with the other animals, she had seen a baboon holding up a lion cub at a ledge on this rock.

Wesui had pushed to the front of the crowd to see if there were other lions around, this is when she had bumped into Njozi, a lioness with golden fur who looked slightly older than Wesui. "Who are you?" Njozi had asked Weusi.  
"I'm Wesui" she had replied. "I have no home."  
"I see, you wish to join the pridelanders?" Njozi had asked.  
"Uh, yeah I guess, if you don't mind me staying." Replied Weusi.  
"Well as you can see, there is a major event happening right now, & only our leader, Simba, can decide whether you stay or go, he will be able to talk to you later today." Njozi had told Weusi.  
"Ok, if you don't mind me asking, what is this major event?" Asked Weusi curiously.  
"The ceremony for the birth of the new princess, Kiara." Njozi replied.  
"Ah, that's good then. I'll come back in a few hours to talk to this Simba." Wesui said before walking off to the outskirts of the pridelands to take a nap.

Later that day, Weusi had returned to the weird rock & talked to Simba, who was very interested in Weusi's past & asked her many questions. After Simba had thought for a while, Weusi was accepted into the pride & made good friends with Nala over the years, but she also grew to dislike Simba, he seemed bossy & not very friendly towards her, she didn't hate him, she just didn't like his ways of leadership or his personality. Weusi lived a good life in the pridelands, but over time craved more action than just the hunting party, she was growing very bored of doing the same thing everyday.

Just then, Weusi was interrupted from her thoughts by Vitani, who had come to tell Weusi that Kiara had finally given birth to her & Kovu's first cub. She made her was over to pride rock with Vitani & saw Kiara & Kovu sitting together at the entrance of the cave, a newborn cub between Kiara's paws. "Hello Kiara, hello Kovu!" Vitani & Weusi both said.  
"I can see your morning has been very uneventful." Vitani said in a sarcastic voice.  
"Yes, not much happened here, just the birth of a new cub & all." Kovu replied grinning.  
The cub was a slightly lighter shade of brown than Kovu was, he had green eyes & looked allot like his father. Just as Weusi & Vitani were looking at the newborn cub & taking in his appearance, Simba & Nala came up pride rock to where the others were sitting. "Good morning & congratulations!" Simba said to Kovu & Kiara.  
"He's beautiful, good morning to all of you." Nala said as she took a seat next to her daughter.

"So what is he going to be named?" Asked Simba.  
"Monu" Kiara replied.  
"Very nice name" Said Simba smiling towards Monu. The others nodded in agreement.  
10 minutes passed while the lions chatted, then Rafiki walked into the cave. He said hello to the group & then walked towards the newborn cub. "What have you decided to name him?" Rafiki asked Kiara & Kovu.  
"Monu" Kovu told Rafiki.  
"Good choice" Rafiki replied. Rafiki then picked up Monu & took him to the end of pride rock before holding him up for the creatures of the pridelands to see. There was a huge cheer that rang out through the pridelands as the animals bowed to their future king. Rafiki then lowered Monu, smiling at Kovu & Kiara, who were standing next to him. They smiled back & Kiara took Monu in her mouth back to the cave, where Vitani & Weusi bowed to the three of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A few weeks had passed since the birth of Monu & he had grown allot bigger, he had a tuft of black hair on his head, & his chest & belly were also black. He was sometimes playful, but he enjoyed lying around sleeping in the sun as well. Today he was lying outside in the shade of pride rock, he was enjoying his nap when he was awoken by Timon & Pumbaa asking him if he wanted to do anything while his parents were out doing their daily duties. He usually wanted to just lie around, but today he was feeling playful, so he rolled over & went with Timon & Pumbaa to the waterhole. He enjoyed having water fights with them, half way through todays water fight, the weather made a turn for the worse & it started to rain heavily, it was the first rain the pridelands had seen in a while. Monu, Timon & Pumbaa took shelter in a small cave by the waterhole until the shower passed. "Hey look, more water." Monu said grinning at Timon.  
"Oh no! You're not pushing me in there!" Timon shouted at Monu. Pumbaa laughed as Monu pushed Timon into the now much deeper pool of water. Timon came crawling out soaking wet to find Monu & Pumbaa rolling around with laughter. "What's so funny about that?" Timon asked with an annoyed look on his face, before pushing Monu in to the water hole. Monu climbed back out soaking wet, you're turn big guy! He said, & together Timon & Monu pushed Pumbaa into the pool of water with an almighty splash.

While Monu, Timon & Pumbaa were having fun at the water hole, Weusi was lying out in middle of the pridelands thinking to herself, lately her dislike of Simba had lead to her falling out with Nala, she wasn't very happy at the moment, she felt like she wasn't liked by any of the pride. There was Vitani, but she didn't get to see her often & she was around Simba & Nala allot more. Weusi had thought about leaving & trying to find a new pride where she would be more happy, but she knew the pridelanders were one of the friendliest & after the trouble she had been through after leaving her last pride, she pushed that idea aside. She would just have to deal with the fact that she didn't like Simba very much, she was sure Nala & her would make up eventually.

Nala was out with Sarabi & Kiara doing the daily hunt, it was going well as usual & they had killed an antelope & a wilderbeast to eat. "Look!" Kiara said quietly to the other two. "One of those zebra sure would go down well with this antelope." The hunting party would catch 3 animals between them, this was enough to feed the whole pride for the day, & it was easy for them to carry back, one kill each. Sarabi & Nala agreed & they went for one of the zebra, Sarabi & Kiara would pin the animal down while Nala bit into it's throat to kill it. The successfully caught the zebra they were aiming for & headed back to pride rock.

Simba & Kovu were out walking together, chatting at the same time as making sure everything was well in the pridelands. Today Simba was telling Kovu about how he had raised Kiara, but suddenly he went silent, he had a look in his eye, he was remembering his first son, Kopa. He had never told Kovu this story. "Simba, are you alright?" Kovu asked, seeing that Simba looked troubled.  
"Yeah, I'm alright, I was just remembering… Nevermind." Simba replied. Kovu was sure Simba was about to tell him something that was bothering him.  
"Are you sure? You look as if something is troubling you." Kovu asked again, slightly worried.  
"Hey, Kovu, I want to tell you a story I've never told you before..." Simba hesitated before continuing. "…Me & Nala had a cub before Kiara." Kovu looked at Simba, he couldn't quite take in what he was hearing, was this some kind of joke? "His name was Kopa." Simba told Kovu, who continued to look confused.  
"Why didn't you ever say you had another cub? Where is he?" Kovu asked.  
"Because it hurts to talk about it, & we had him for so little time. I can't answer your second question, for I don't know. I think he's dead, but he could still be out there." Simba replied, he could feel emotions building up inside him.  
"Oh." Was all Kovu could say, this news was a shock to him, but he wanted to know more. "Why isn't he here safe with the pride?" Kovu asked.  
"Have you ever wandered why I exiled your mother's pride to the outlands?" Simba asked.  
"Well, yes, I didn't dare ask her though, she would lose her temper so easily." Kovu replied.  
"Well, she was the one who took Kopa away from us. We're not sure if she killed him or just left him to die, either way there's not must chance he survived the ordeal." Simba told Kovu.  
"I never knew she was that evil, trying to take an innocent cub away from it's home & kill it. Even worse she probably did it so there would be no one in the way of me becoming king." Kovu replied with his head bowed.  
"Don't feel bad about it Kovu, it's not your fault she was that desperate to have you as a king she would kill for it." Simba said reassuringly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

That night, Kovu couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about the story of Kopa. Was he still alive? He knew that it was very unlikely, he knew how brutal Zira was. Once she started a job, she always finished it.

The next morning, things went as normal, Monu went of to play (& sleep) with Timon & Pumbaa while Nala, Sarabi & Kiara did the daily hunt, Simba & Kovu walked around the pridelands chatting & making sure everything was alright. Vitani generally didn't do very much during the day, the hunting party didn't need anymore members, & besides, hunting wasn't her thing, & Simba & Kovu were already keeping an eye open for problems, so she often just went for a walk, she liked to walk, sometimes she went to the outlands just to see if it was the same as when she used to live there. Today she had decided to walk around the border of the pridelands, there was a river she liked to stop at sometimes to nap at. Today as she was walking, she thought about her brother Nuka, who had been crushed by logs trying to kill Simba. Vitani knew he was evil, but only because of Zira, Vitani still missed Nuka allot.

Vitani reached the river she liked to nap at & lay down with her head on her fore paws, just as she was drifting off she heard noises further up stream, she quickly stood up & went to see what they were. As she rounded a corner in the river bank, she saw Simba looking very weak dragging himself along barely able to stay upright. Vitani ran up to him. "Simba! Are you ok? What happened?" She yelled. He look up, & Vitani saw in shock that he wasn't Simba at all, this lions eyes were green & as she examined him more carefully, she noticed his mane was slightly darker than Simba's. "Who are you?" Vitani asked. The lion couldn't answer, he collapsed on the ground, he looked starched & had allot of bruises & cuts on his body. Vitani splashed some water from the river on him to cool him down in the hot sun, after five minutes he opened his eyes. "Who are you? Where am I?" The lion asked. Vitani noticed his voice was also similar to Simba's.  
"I'm Vitani, & you're at the edge of the pridelands." Vitani replied. "Who are you & where are you from?"  
"I'm Kopa, I'm not from anywhere." He replied in a weak voice.  
"Stay here, I'll go & get somebody." Vitani said to Kopa.

Vitani ran around for a while looking for Simba & Kovu, she found them right in the heart of the pridelands. "Hey! There's a lion by the river!" Vitani said before stopping to get her breathe back. "He wandered up & collapsed, I revived him & he told me he was Kopa, he says he's not from anywhere. Simba & Kovu looked shocked at the name Kopa. Could this possibly be Simba & Nala's long lost son? "Take us to him!" Simba told Vitani.  
"Ok, follow me." Vitani replied. The three lions ran to where Kopa was lying, they stood for a minute & took in the lions appearance. Kovu kept looking from Kopa to Simba, they looked so similar. Simba was the first to approach Kopa. "Are you alright?" Simba asked. He was sure he recognised Kopa's eyes as he looked up.  
"Yeah, just weak." Kopa replied. Simba noticed how Kopa sounded allot like he did.  
"Lets get you back to pride rock, out of this hot sun." Simba told kopa, & with help from Vitani & Simba, Kopa stood up & the four made their way back to pride rock. Simba was sure this was his son, but at the same time he couldn't quite believe it. Kovu continued to look confused at the similarity's between Simba & Kopa.

Halfway back to pride rock, Kopa asked if he could get some water before heading there. So they headed towards the water hole instead. When they got there, Kopa drank for what seemed like forever, he could feel his strength coming back to him as he did so. After his long drink, Kopa could keep himself upright & they all walked back to pride rock. Kopa slept the rest of that day & all through the night.

The next morning, Simba came up to Kopa as he was waking up. "Morning Kopa, hey can I have a private word?"  
"Sure." Kopa replied. He was sure he had seen Simba before, he just couldn't remember where. He could remember being in this cave for a few days, then waking up in a dusty hot place, he had seen Simba before when he had been in that cave, he was sure.

"Kopa, I don't know if you can remember as far back as the week you were born?" Simba asked.  
"I don't know, I can remember being in this cave, there were other lions in there, the next morning I woke up in a hot dusty place." Kopa replied. Simba looked at Kopa thinking. "The outlands" Simba thought out loud.  
"What?" Kopa asked confused.  
"Do you remember me?" Simba asked.  
"Yes, you're face rings a bell in my head." Kopa replied.  
"Kopa, that's because… That's because I'm your father, Simba." Simba told Kopa. There was a long silence while the two just stared at each other, Kopa knew it was true but it was so long since he had seen his father he found it hard to believe.  
"And what about my mother? Who is she?" Kopa asked.  
"Nala, I'll go & get her, wait here." Simba said & he went into the cave to get Nala, careful not to wake any of the others. Meanwhile, Kopa thought to himself. Was this all a dream? His life so far had been about avoiding death, nothing good had ever happened to him, was this all about to change? Kopa sat there feeling very happy, even if this was just a dream, it was a good one.

Simba returned two minutes later with Nala, she walked up to Kopa slowly looked at him open mouthed.  
"Kopa? It's really you!" She just stared at him hardly able to believe her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kopa spent the next few days catching up with his parents & his sister, he told them how he had never had a home, & how everyday had been a fight for survival as a cub. He had tought himself to hunt as he grew older, this had helped him allot as he would go weeks without eating as a cub. Kopa was also a very good fighter, he had been in many fights with lions from other pride's when he had gone over their borders by accident. He had tried to join a few prides in his life, but failed, either because they didn't like him or he didn't like them. He also told them what had happened just before Vitani had found him, he had been attacked by a lion. He was unsure of who this lion was, he didn't smell of any of the places he had been in his life, Kopa hadn't been able to take in this lion's appearance very well as it had leaped on him from behind & before Kopa could see the lion properly it had gone again, leaving Kopa to stuggle to a place to rest, only to collapse on the hot ground.

It was a great feeling to be around others who cared about his well being, & helped him instead of attacking him. It took him a little longer to get to know Kiara, it was odd having a sister he had never even known about until a few days ago.

Today, Kopa was walking around when he bumped into Monu, he hadn't talked to him before, just seen him around. "Hi, who are you? I've seen you around." Kopa asked Monu.

"I'm Monu, Kiara & Kovu's son." Monu replied. "You're that lion Vitani found, right?"

"Yes, I'm Kopa." Kopa replied, looking at Monu in thought. "I guess I'm your uncle then." Kopa continued.

"Huh?" Monu said looking confused.

"I'm your mother's brother." Kopa told Monu.

"Oh, why haven't you always been here then?" Monu asked Kopa.

"Zira tried took me I left me in the outlands when I was a cub. You know about Zira right?" Kopa explained to Monu.

"Yes, my dad's mother, the leader of the outlanders. He told me how he had been trained by her to take over the pride lands, but then fell in love with my mother." Monu replied.

Kopa & Monu talked for a while, they got on well, Kopa told Monu about his life who listened to every word, Monu found Kopa very interesting. After a while Kopa decided to go for a walk & get more familiar with the pridelands, Monu decided to go back to sleep.

Kopa had been walking for a while getting to know his surroundings when he met Vitani on one of her daily walks. "Hi Kopa!" She said when she saw him.

"Hi Vitani, what are you doing here?" Kopa asked.

"Just walking, I like to walk, what about you?"

"I decided to get to know the pridelands a bit better." Kopa replied.

"Ah ok, I could show you around if you like?" Vitani offered.

"That'd be good, I haven't seen you around much since you found me." Kopa replied.

"I don't stay around pride rock much, I'm generally wondering around somewhere." Vitani told Kopa.

"That explains why then. Have you always lived in the pridelands?" Kopa asked looking at Vitani curiously.

"No, I was in Zira's pride, I'm Kovu's half sister. I was the first to join Simba's pride in the battle for the pridelands." She replied.

"I see, if you don't mind me asking, why did you join?" Kopa asked.

"Kiara said something that made me realise all the fighting was not the answer." Vitani told Kopa, recapping those words Kiara had said.

"What was life like in the outlands? It doesn't look like a nice place to live. I've been through a couple of times." Kopa asked Vitani.

"It wasn't pleasant. Not much food or water, but we got on with life & I had Nuka & Kovu to keep me company." Vitani replied, thinking about Nuka's death.

"I've never heard of Nuka, who was he?" Kopa asked.

"My other brother, he was crushed by logs trying to kill Simba, he wasn't the friendliest of brothers, but we had fun sometimes." Vitani told Kopa, even though she never got along very well with Nuka, she sometimes missed his company. "Anyway, you wanted to get to know the pridelands." She continued, bringing the subject of Nuka to an end. Kopa was still wanted to know more about Vitani's life, but decided not to ask any more questions. Vitani & Kopa walked around the pridelands & Vitani showed Kopa all the landmarks & where the borders were. After Kopa's guided tour of the pridelands, him & Vitani sat down & rested for a while. "Earlier today I bumped into Monu, I never knew I was an uncle." Kopa told Vitani.

"Ah yes, I forgot you are his uncle, I don't see him much." Vitani said. "Do you like him?"

"Yeah, he's friendly. He seemed interested in my life." Kopa repied.

"That's good, I haven't talked to him much but he seems nice enough. I don't think anyone could find your life boring, Kopa, it's not like you live a boring life." Vitani said laughing.

After chatting for a while, it started to get dark & they headed back to pride rock for the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As Kopa & Vitani returned to pride rock for the night, they saw Simba sitting out on a nearby hill. "What's he doing up there?" Kopa asked Vitani.  
"Probably star gazing." She replied. "Talking to the great kings of the past I expect, he goes up there every night."  
"Who are the great kings of the past?" Kopa asked, wondering how these kings could tie in with star gazing.  
"Simba says the past kings of the pridelands are up in the sky, he talks to them." Vitani told Kopa. He still looked a little confused.  
"So why are they stars? I thought the only way of the dead talking to the living was if they were ghosts?" Kopa asked.  
"How should I know? Maybe there's other ways of speaking to the dead." Vitani answered.  
"Right." Kopa said, bringing the subject to a close.

Kopa & Vitani reached pride rock a few minutes later. "So what is the routine here?" Kopa asked.  
"For night?" Vitani asked.  
"Yeah." Kopa answered.  
"Go to sleep, what else is there to do." Vitani said.  
"Right, sounds good to me. I just thought there might have been some sort of watch duty in case of threats?" Kopa asked.  
"Well, anything weird Rafiki will see, one of the advantages to living in tree." Vitani told Kopa.  
"Right, who's Rafiki?" Kopa asked, there were certainly quite a few characters here he had never seen.  
"He's a baboon that lives in a baobab tree." Vitani replied. "He's the smartest guy you'll ever meet, but he's a bit weird sometimes." She continued.  
"Ok, I'll keep that in mind." Kopa said.

"So where do I sleep?" Kopa asked as they entered the big cave in pride rock.  
"Where did you sleep last night?" Vitani asked.  
"In the grass at the bottom, I didn't want to be around to many others." Kopa told her.  
"Right, well I guess you'll just have to find a spot then." Vitani told Kopa.  
"Alright then." Kopa looked around the cave & spotted a empty place in the far corner of the cave.  
"Night then!" Vitani said.  
"Night." Kopa replied before walking off to the corner making sure not to stand on anybody.

Kopa had been lying awake for about 20 minutes when he heard somebody come in to the cave. He rolled over & saw Simba walking over to where Nala was sleeping before lying down next to her. Kopa was still unsure what the whole great kings of the past thing was about, but that was for him to find out another day. Kopa fell asleep 10 minutes later.

When Kopa woke the next morning, most of the other lions had already woken up & left, but Kiara & Kovu were still asleep a few meters away from him. As Kopa stood up to head out, Kovu stirred. "Mornin' Kopa." He said in a sleepy voice before slowly rising & nuzzling Kiara before heading out of the cave with Kopa. "So what are you planning to do today?" Kovu asked Kopa.  
"I don't know." He replied. "What do you do around here?" Kopa asked.  
"I usually patrol the pridelands with Simba, some of the lionesses do the hunting & I'm not to sure what the others do, I guess you could find out for yourself." Kovu told him.  
"Ok, I'll have a wonder around & see what's happening." Kopa said.  
"Be careful, it's easy to get lost if you don't know your way around." Kovu warned Kopa.  
"I have a rough idea of where things are, Vitani showed me yesterday." Kopa told Kovu.  
"That's good. You shouldn't have to much trouble then." Kovu said before heading off to find Simba.

Kopa headed off to the waterhole to get a drink. When he arrived he saw Monu with Timon & Pumbaa. "Hi Kopa." Monu said when he saw Kopa approaching.  
"Hey Monu, what's up?" Kopa replied.  
"Not to much, just hanging around with these guys." Monu told Kopa pointing at Timon & Pumbaa who were sitting behind him. Kopa nodded to the babysitters before getting a drink. He then said goodbye to them & headed towards someone he had seen in the distance, wanting to know what they were doing.

As Kopa walked towards the lioness he had seen in the distance, he took it her appearance, he hadn't seen her around before. She was brown in colour with maroon eyes. He walked up to her, wondering why she hadn't been in the cave last night. "Hi, who are you?" Kopa asked the lioness, who jumped around to see a lion that looked just like Simba, but with a few minor differences. "Huh? Oh. I'm Weusi." She answered. "Are you that new lion everybody's talking about?" Weusi asked.  
"I presume so, I'm pretty sure I'm the newest here." Kopa told her. "Sorry for sneaking up on you by the way, I wasn't sure if you were from around here." Kopa apologised.  
"That's alright, I don't sleep in the main cave so no wonder you haven't seen me." Weusi told Kopa.  
"Why don't you sleep in the main cave?" Kopa asked.  
"I don't get along to well with Simba." She told him looking a bit awkward.  
"Why not?" Kopa asked not noticing Weusi's look.  
"We just don't, I don't want to talk about it ok?" She said angrily.  
"Ok." Kopa said backing away from Weusi. "Sorry for pushing it." Weusi didn't say anything else, she just walked off into the distance.  
'Well that was weird.' Kopa thought to himself as he walked off in the opposite direction to Weusi. Why had she reacted so strongly when he had pushed the subject of Simba? Kopa was lost in thought and he walked straight into Vitani not realising she was there. "What the… What are you doing?" She asked as Kopa seemed to come back to the real world.  
"Uhm… I was thinking, & I was kinda zoned out." Kopa told Vitani. "Sorry for crashing into you, I could have probably walked off a cliff & not noticed." He said.  
"Must have been pretty deep in thought then?" Vitani asked.  
"Yeah…" Kopa replied, he was thinking about what Weusi had said again & wasn't really listening to Vitani.  
"You seem just as zoned out now as before we crashed. If you don't mind me asking, what are you thinking about that makes you that out of it?" She asked. At this question Kopa gave himself a shake & pulled his mind away from what Weusi might have had against Simba.  
"I met this lioness, Weusi." Kopa told Vitani. "She seemed nice enough, until I mentioned Simba." He continued.  
"Ah, Weusi. Yes she is touchy around the subject of Simba. They've never gotten on well." Vitani told Kopa.  
"Why not? Something happen between them?" Kopa asked.  
"To be honest I'm not really sure. I know she thinks he's bossy, but she seems a bit over the top about it just to be bossiness." Vitani told him.  
"Yeah I know what you mean." Kopa said.

"So has Weusi always been here?" Kopa asked Vitani.  
"No, she came just after Kiara was born. She had been a rogue for quite some time, she left her pride after her father was killed. She searched for her mother but had no luck finding her, so she stumbled upon the pride lands." Vitani told him. "How she managed to survive out there I don't know, she wasn't even fully grown when she got here, yet she had fought off a pack of hyenas." She continued.  
"Really? That would explain the nasty scar on her leg." Kopa said.  
"Yup. She was fine for the first year or so here, then she started to take a disliking to Simba, she didn't sleep in the main cave & tried to avoid talking to him if at all possible." Vitani explained. "I still don't think it could just be his bossiness that makes her hate him so much." She said.  
"I see what you mean, she didn't seem the type to hate over small things." Kopa said.

"So what else have you been doing today?" Vitani asked Kopa.  
"Not much. Woke up, talked to Kovu, headed to the waterhole where I met Monu with Timon & Pumbaa, met Weusi then bumped into you." He told her. "What about you?" He asked, wondering what Vitani did each day.  
"I was just walking around, I often do. There's not much else to do really." She replied.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Weusi stormed off to her cave on the borders of the pridelands. Why did Kopa have to be so nosy! He's only just arrived and he already wants to know everything about me. She thought, before walking off towards the river. Maybe she was over reacting, she just hated people bringing up her relationship with Simba.

"I'd better go & make sure Weusi's alright, maybe I can get her to tell me why she's so touchy about the mention of Simba." Vitani told Kopa.  
Ok, see ya later!" Kopa replied, before walking off in the direction of the waterhole.

Vitani headed for Weusi's cave, which was where she usually went when she was feeling down. Much to her surprise, the cave was empty. After looking around, she saw footprints heading for the river. After a few minutes walking, Vitani saw Weusi sitting on the riverbank watching some crocodiles below. Vitani walked over & sat next to Weusi, noticing that she had tears in her eyes, something Vitani had never seen before.

"What's wrong?" Vitani asked Weusi.  
"Nothing." Weusi replied, very unconvincingly.  
"Look, there's no point trying to convince me nothings wrong, you're crying, & I know you don't have hay fever." Vitani said in a stern voice before laughing.  
"I'm just sick of everything these days." Said Weusi "Sick of the same old routine, sick of Simba, sick of being alone."  
"Why don't you spend some more time with the rest of the pride?" Vitani asked, "You don't have to be alone, we don't hate you or anything like that."  
"I can't live under Simba's rules all the time, I can't stand being around him." Weusi said, raising her voice.  
"Why is it you dislike him so much?" Vitani asked cautiously, being carful not to anger Weusi.  
"He's really bossy, it's hard to be myself around him." Weusi said.  
"I know it's more than that, I sometimes feel like that myself." Vitani replied, Weusi was obviously hiding something, but what?  
"That is all, why would I hide anything?" Weusi asked.  
"I don't know, if you don't want to tell me you don't have to, but the more you keep to yourself, the worse you're going to feel." Vitani replied.  
"I thought I said I wasn't hiding anything!" Weusi shouted. She was losing her temper, why wouldn't Vitani just mind her own business for once.  
"Mmhmm…" Vitani said calmly, not swayed by Weusi's display of anger. "Look, I know your hiding something, but if you don't want to tell me, fine. I just want you to know I'm here if you need anything."  
Weusi stayed silent, looking at Vitani, her expression unreadable.  
"See you later Weusi." Vitani said before turning around I starting to walk back towards pride rock. She was puzzled, what was Weusi hiding? There was defiantly more between Weusi & Simba than met the eye.

Kopa had talked to Monu, Timon & Pumbaa for a while longer, Monu had told Kopa about everybody in the pride. He was intrigued by how two prides had been sworn enemies but in the end come together, but Monu hadn't known much on the subject as it was before his time, he had told Kopa to find Kovu, who had been an outlander himself & one of the main lions behind joining the two enemy prides.  
Just then, a baboon dropped down right in front of him. Kopa jumped & fell over in shock.  
"What the! I suppose you must be Rafiki?" Kopa asked the baboon, slightly annoyed.  
"Yes, that's me." Rafiki replied. "Kopa, Simba's son?" He asked.  
"Yeah, so what do you do around here? Scare lions to death?" Kopa asked.  
"I do that, & much more." Rafiki replied.  
"He likes to hit lions on the head with sticks too." Said Simba, emerging from the long grass nearby. Kopa looked at him.  
"What are you doing here?" Kopa asked.  
"I was just patrolling with Kovu & heard voices over here." Simba replied as Kovu emerged from the long grass too.  
"So what else do you do apart from scaring lions to death & hitting them with sticks?" Kopa asked Rafiki.  
"I'm the shaman, I'm sure Simba will tell you all about me." Rafiki replied.  
"Indeed, if it wasn't for Rafiki knocking some sense into me I might not be here now." Simba said smiling. "I lived out in the Jungle after Scar killed my farther & made me think it was my fault."  
"Who's Scar?" Kopa asked.  
"Oh, I suppose you won't know about what happened before you were born." Simba said. "Scar was my uncle. He was evil; all he wanted was to be king, so much that he would kill for it, & that's just what he did. Lured my farther, Mufasa, into a herd of charging wildebeest by trapping me there. He saved me, and then climbed up a rock face, he begged Scar to help him, but Scar through him off into the herd & he was trampled." Simba's emotions were building up. He still missed his farther. "After my farther got trampled, Scar told me it was my fault & I ran away through the desert, eventually collapsing from exhaustion & thirst. If it wasn't for Timon & Pumbaa, I would've died, but they took me in to their jungle home, it took a while to get used to eating grubs instead of antelope, but they're strangely satisfying. After years in the jungle, my old friend, Nala, had come in search of food. Under scars reign, the pride lands had become a wasteland, all the animals had left & there was no greenery. She tried to hunt Pumbaa, but I stopped her, & realised who she was. She tried to get me to go home & take my place as king, but I couldn't face my past. Eventually Rafiki here convinced me by showing me that my farther still lived within me. Back at pride rock, Scar threw me off the edge of the long ledge, I was just holding on, and then he whispered to me that he had killed Mufasa, I jumped up & made him tell the whole pride what he had done. Eventually he turned his own followers, the hyenas, against him, & they ate him alive. I became king & eventually everything returned to normality. Simba finished. It was a funny feeling recapping his life. It felt good to tell the story, yet it also bought back memories of his farther.  
"That's an interesting story, Simba" Kopa said. He had never known about any of this, he thought Simba had spent his whole life in the pride lands.  
"Ah well, we'd better get patrolling again, wouldn't want any unwanted visitors." Simba said, before turning around & leaving with Kovu. Kopa thought about asking Kovu about the two prides, but decided that would be to much to take in for one day.  
"Well its getting late Rafiki, I'd better head back to pride rock." Said Kopa before heading off.  
"Goodbye Kopa." Rafiki replied.


End file.
